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November 9, 2007

Kin of Sept. 11 victim from R.I. settle suit against airline

The family of David A. Angell, the Rhode Island native who achieved fame as executive producer of the NBC series Frasier and who died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has settled the lawsuit it filed against airline and security companies, the plaintiffs’ lawyer said today.

All parties have agreed not to disclose the amount of the settlement, said the lead lawyer for the 9/11 plaintiffs, Donald A. Migliori, a Rhode Island resident and a partner in the South Carolina-based law firm of Motley Rice.

Angell, 55, who owned a home on Providence’s East Side, won five Emmy Awards for his work on shows such as Cheers, Wings and Frasier. He was the brother of Kenneth A. Angell, who served as auxiliary bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence from 1974 to 1992 before becoming bishop of Burlington, Vt.

Angell's case is distinctive in that his survivors are among a small percentage that decided to sue the airlines rather than accept a government payment. Lawyers had also debated whether his true home was in Cape Cod, California or Rhode Island, which has more favorable laws regarding such litigation.

Migliori said the plaintiffs, who included Kenneth Angell and his sister, Claire Miller, did not want to comment publicly on the settlement. But he said, “It’s a very mixed feeling for all of the people involved because at the end, no matter how much information we’ve obtained and no matter how much compensation we’ve been able to achieve, the reality is the one thing they want most — their brother, son or spouse — is what they can never get back.”

On 9/11, Angell and his wife, Lynn Edwards Angell, boarded American Airlines Flight 11 at Logan Airport, heading to California to wrap up work on the final episode of Frasier. Their plane crashed into the World Trade Center’s north tower.

After the terrorist attacks, 98.5 percent of the victims’ families chose to accept money from a federal compensation fund and forfeit their right to sue. But some filed wrongful death lawsuits, including relatives of Angell and of Pawtucket’s Shawn M. Nassaney.

Nassaney’s family reached a settlement in September. And the Angell case is one of 10 settled over the past week, including the case of Ambrose v. American Airlines and Argenbright Security, which had been set to go to trial Monday, Migliori said.

-- Journal staff writer Edward Fitzpatrick

So there are now seven unresolved cases against the airlines and security companies. “There will be a trial," Migliori predicted. "The seven who remain are steadfast that they are going to keep fighting for a liability trial and an airing of the evidence and accountability.”

Defendants in the Angell lawsuit included American Airlines, the Globe Aviation Services security company, The Boeing Co., the Massachusetts Port Authority, and Colgan Air, the regional airline that two terrorists took from Portland, Maine, to Logan before boarding Flight 11.

American Airlines issued a statement this afternoon, saying, “Sept. 11, 2001, was a national tragedy and we empathize with all families who lost loved ones that day. The federal government established what we believe to be a fair and equitable system, the Victim’s Compensation Fund, for handling such cases without making the families suffer through a long legal process. This system worked because 98 percent of the cases have been settled privately or through the VCF. American is committed to continue working with the remaining families toward settlement.”

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 5:31 PM | Permalink

Comments

Does anyone find it odd that when foreigners attack us, hijack our planes, and kill our citizens, we respond by suing each other?

Justin | November 10, 2007 6:21 AM link

November 9, 2007

Kin of Sept. 11 victim from R.I. settle suit against airline

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